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Bronfman Youth Fellowships Awarded for Program’s 26th Year

For the 26th consecutive year, The Bronfman Youth Fellowships in Israel has selected a group of 26 high school students to be Bronfman Fellows. The Bronfman Fellows participate in an intensive five-week program of study, travel and extensive programming in Israel designed to develop future community leaders committed to Jewish unity.

Following a competitive application process, this year’s Bronfman Fellows are from 12 states across the US and Canada. They represent diverse Jewish backgrounds, including Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, unaffiliated and non-denominational.

The Fellows study with a rabbinic faculty including Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum, Executive Director of the Kavana Cooperative in Seattle, Washington; Dr. Vanessa Ochs, a professor in the Department of Religious Studies and Jewish Studies Program at the University of Virginia; Rabbi Yehuda Sarn, a University Chaplain for NYU and Rabbi of the Bronfman Center at NYU; and Dr. Noam Pianko, Associate Professor and Samuel N. Stroum Chair of Jewish Studies in the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington.

In Israel, Fellows will meet with political and cultural figures such as authors Etgar Keret and A.B. Yehoshua and also spend a week with a group of Israeli peers who were chosen through a parallel selection process as part of the Israeli Youth Fellowship, Amitei Bronfman.

Bronfman Youth Fellows are asked to devise and lead Jewish community or social action projects upon returning home after the summer.